The Genius Architect: Yeast
Growth
Transformation
Fermentation
Metabolism
Decomposition
Release
生长，转化，发酵，代谢，分解，释放
The dough, at this moment, is both subtle and vast. The yeast demonstrates a magical architectural language: metabolizing, decomposing, releasing, transforming, and growing, thus outlining a magnificent microscopic dome.
Sugar transforms into the source of life, and the metabolic byproduct, CO₂, becomes the cornerstone of the architectural ecosystem. With the right fermentation time and the creativity of yeast, the depths of the dough reveal a grander dome sanctuary than human architecture.
-- Origin of Creation --
创作由来
“食窟”之美
一个神似《看不见的城市》的地方
"Food Cavern Art."
In May, I visited the Datong Grottoes in Shanxi, and the dense pores of the bread in my hand also had a kind of “food cavern” beauty. Traveling truly is a great way to gain inspiration.
The “food cavern” is a place akin to Olinda, a unique place described in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Every building and street here grows outward from the center like the roots and stems of plants. Like yeast, it grows naturally without pre-planning. Olinda is not just a physical space but a metaphor for life and time. Just as yeast builds domes through fermentation, demonstrating its vitality and dependence on time.
I hope to depict the invisible city of Olinda (the city of yeast) through photography, capturing the marvelous process of active yeast working as architects. I also aim to capture the different textures of “food cavern” spaces created by various natural leavens (such as levain, poolish, old dough, and sponge) and the unique dough spaces formed by different flours paired with different yeasts.
-- Creative Discovery --
穹顶下的微生命 篇章
The Chronicles of Micro-Life Under the Dome
一个充满魔法与科学的世界
A world full of magic and science
Tearing open the fermented dough reveals an incredible sight, like a surreal microscopic sanctuary. Amazed at how yeast, with the help of water and time, constructs biological domes, a subtle and complex micro-ecosystem, a world full of magic and science.
These life forms whisper and intertwine within the pores of the dome, as the faint sound waves of the yeast converse with other substances, exchanging nutrients and information, together building the harmony of this microscopic world.
Under the microscope, magnified 400 times, observe how yeast performs its magic in constructing its structures.
-- Creative Discovery --
创作发现
气孔的秘密
The Secret of Honeycomb-like Pores
Yeast is the main driving force of fermentation, and its activity directly affects the expansion of the dough and the formation of pores. Highly active yeast can ferment the dough faster and more evenly, producing more carbon dioxide gas, thereby forming more pores.
In the dough, yeast breaks down sugars, producing carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. Carbon dioxide gas forms bubbles in the dough, and these bubbles expand as the dough rises, creating pores.
Fermentation is a process of growth and transformation,
a miracle of vitality bursting forth in silence,
It grants the original substance a new life and flavor.
In the depths of the dough, yeast awakens dormant vitality
just as in the ordinary daily life,
those unnoticed details are filled with the potential to change the world.
Just like those tiny yeast microorganisms, they start their own universe in seemingly ordinary dough,
creating miracles of transformation.
-- Creative Imagination --
创作想象
酵母菌代谢的人形守护者
Yeast Metabolized Humanoid Guardians
In this organic ecosystem created by yeast, new life forms quietly emerge. These are yeast metabolized humanoid guardians. They have physical forms and maintain ecological balance under the domes of the yeast city, continuously repairing this organic space. These guardians sustain the flow of life and the orderly conversion of energy within the micro-ecosystem.
The creative life force of yeast also reveals its role in this extraordinary world: they are not just the starting point of life, but also wise entities that maintain ecological balance. Under the shelter of the biological domes, microorganisms and nature dance together, collectively interpreting a poetic saga of micro-life.
The city of yeast is like a perpetually living organism, constantly growing, transforming, and metabolizing through time. Every corner of this place is filled with infinite possibilities and beauty, showcasing the miracle where nature and science shine together.
Thank you for watching.